01 — Intro
The core of my game localization services is translation.
My specialty are narrative and dialogue-driven games, though in my work I encounter various types of game content – user interface, names and descriptions of items, patches, marketing materials (including promotional novels and movies) and much more. Each element requires individual approach.
02 — Mission objective
Localization is about making stories feel local without losing what made them global.
My goal is to create seamless and engaging texts and – as a result – an immersive experience for the Polish players. The game must look and sound completely natural in the target language, like it was written in it from the start.
03 — Creative process
While working on a project, I need to be creative, but at the same time I have to constantly take into account numerous restrictions related to client's and players expectations, cultural differences, character limits, tags, variables and placeholders, and context. When in doubt, I consult the client to make sure that I understand everything correctly.
In order to achieve the best quality, I follow a 4-step process:
Researching
My work starts even before I open the files for translation and begin to localize the game’s content. First, I read all guidelines provided by the client, familiarize myself with all the materials included in the loc kit, do a thorough research and consult with specialists, to make sure all the details are accurate.
Stylizing
Optionally, if asked, I also create style guide and glossary with majority of the key terms from the game, to make sure the style of my translation, the way characters speak, the flow of the narrative, and overall tone matches the story, narration, as well as dialogues of the game.
Translating
Then, the magic happens. I rewrite the game's English content into fluent, stylized Polish (or the other way round when I'm adapting into English), taking into account the client’s requirements as well as the expectations of future players. This is the hardest and most time consuming part.
Editing
When the translation is finished, I always reread it the last time and perform quality checks, including spellcheck. After that the text is ready to go to the next stage: With my editor, we go through multiple rounds of proofreading and editing, before we deem the text worthy of our standards and ready to be sent out.